CME wants to administer gold “fix”

Exchange Shorts

European Commission agreed with the proposal to suspend the status of derivatives deals entered into from March 18 until the region’s main regulator European Securities and Markets Authority determines which instruments should face mandatory clearing later this year. In a letter the EU commissioner Michel Barnier wrote to ESMA, he acknowledged that the implementation process “could jeopardize the principle of legal certainty” for market participants.

European regulators may start fining firms in order to motivate them to correctly report their over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives transactions. According to a the Trade News source, “there were over 6 billion reports this year and not a lot of them match up so we are fully expecting them to start honing into that particular problem soon….and they really have to, in order to make a statement.”

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering some specific transparency rules for dark pools, such as disclosing what feed they use to obtain market data, naming their customers and revealing what, if any, special arrangement those clients have in place.

SEC is seeking information on 10 registered broker dealers in its current high frequency trading investigation, Reuters reported. According to the report, SEC is looking for information on tips, complaints, or referrals concerning the brokers and high frequency traders.

The European Union’s bid to set structure rules for around 30 of the region’s largest banks has been strongly opposed by a “substantial number of countries” which have “expressed serious concerns or reservations” about the proposed proprietary trading ban. According to Bloomberg, “only very few countries are explicitly in favor.”

NDAQ’s proposal to offer rebates to some of its options exchanges’ largest customers has been rejected by SEC, Reuters reported. According to SEC, it rejected the proposal as NDAQ’s plan would have broken rules stating that an exchange’s fees cannot be unfairly discriminatory of hinder competition.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group expressed its desire to administer the gold “fix”, and that it would bid to be involved in a new process, which may turn the current twice-daily price-setting conference call into an electronic auction, Reuters reported.

NDAQ is considering applying for full exchange status for NLX, its London-based derivatives platform, which is currently designated as a multilateral trading facility under UK regulation.

BOLSAA reported 2Q14 EPS of P$0.31 (-16% y/y).

About the Author

Bernardo Mariano brings to ERDesk his experience structuring private deals for the acquisition of mutual exchanges. Prior to joining ERDesk Bernardo worked as a Director for Instinet and later, CEO of Reuters' Bondex. He holds an MS in Economics from University of Illinois and an MIA in Finance from Columbia University. He can be reaced at be reached at mariano@erdesk.com.